Tag: Roger Godsiff

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to attend the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016.

Mr David Cameron

I welcome the UN Secretary-General’s leadership in convening the World Humanitarian Summit which comes at a critical time given that there are currently more displaced people globally than at any time since the Second World War. We want to see a renewed commitment to the protection of civilians in conflict, a stronger focus on protecting and empowering women and girls, smarter financing, and a new approach to building resilience to natural hazards before they take place.

No decision has yet been taken about the composition of the UK’s delegation to the Summit.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the average number of hours of weekly respite or support family carers are able to access; and what targets his Department has for such provision.

Alistair Burt

We do not hold information on the average number of hours of weekly respite for carers. We are working with councils to improve data in this area for future iterations of the Short and Long Term Care data collection, including on respite care (also known as replacement care).

The Government recognises the invaluable contribution made by unpaid carers and the importance of supporting them in their caring roles. That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in the Care Act 2014. This includes a right to an assessment on the appearance of needs for support that will look at a carer’s wellbeing and what support they may need in their caring role, including replacement care where appropriate. The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these rights in 2015-16.

We have also made an additional £400 million available to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to provide carers with breaks from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role. The equivalent annual allocation of £130 million for carers breaks is now included in the Better Care Fund.

The Department is also leading the development of a new cross-Government National Carers Strategy that will look at what more we can do to support existing carers and future carers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether housing association tenants who part-buy their properties under shared ownership will be able to use Right To Buy to purchase either a share or all of that property.

Brandon Lewis

As is the case with the existing Right to Buy, the agreement with housing associations and the National Housing Federation to extend Right to Buy discounts to housing association tenants will not apply to those people who already own a share in their home, including those who purchased their home under shared ownership.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government intends to proceed with Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Criminal proceedings connected to the subject matter of the Leveson Inquiry, including the appeals process, have not yet completed. We‎ have always been clear that these cases must conclude before we consider Part 2 of the Inquiry.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on arms export licences to Saudi Arabia of the recent reports that a BL755 cluster bomb made by UK firm Hunting Engineering Ltd was found to be in use against civilians in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are aware of recent reports that the Coalition may have used cluster munitions in Yemen. We have raised this issue with the Saudi Arabian authorities and, in line with our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, continue to encourage Saudi Arabia, as a non-party to the Convention, to accede to it.

The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application. A licence will not be issued for any country, including Saudi Arabia, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.

The Government is confident in our robust case-by-case assessment and is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria. The conflict in Yemen is being monitored closely, and relevant information gathered from that monitoring is taken into account as part of the careful risk assessment for the licensing of exports to Saudi Arabia.

Minister for Defence Procurement, Philip Dunne, responded to an urgent question on the reports of UK manufactured cluster bombs in Yemen on Tuesday 24 May.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of Syrian children in Lebanon in education.

Rory Stewart

At the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference, the UK committed to double education funding for Lebanon, to up to £40 million per year. This supports the Conference goal of getting all refugee children from Syria and vulnerable children in host communities into quality education by the end of the 2016/17 school year. DFID is aligning its funding behind the Government of Lebanon’s national education plans to expand access to educational opportunity; both through formal education, and through quality and regulated non-formal education for the most vulnerable out of school children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many racehorses (a) died and (b) were destroyed on British racecourses or shortly afterwards due to injury sustained in (i) flat, (ii) all weather and (iii) national hunt racing in (A) 2013, (B) 2014 and (C) 2015.

George Eustice

The Government does not hold information on racehorse fatalities. However, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) publishes annual statistics on their website on the number of racehorse fatalities. The statistics do not record whether the horse died of its injuries or was destroyed at the racecourse and do not differentiate between the different sorts of horseracing, but according to the BHA the numbers of racehorses that died at racetracks for each of the last three years are provided in the table below:

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total budget was for West Midlands police force in each of the last seven years.

Brandon Lewis

Details of core Government funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (and previously Police Authorities) are published annually in the Police Grant Report. These can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-finance Figures for 2010-11 to 2016-17 are shown below for information. Police and Crime Commissioners are required to publish annual group accounts showing the budget and expenditure for their respective police forces and their own offices, including precept and other local income. For West Midlands Police, these are available at http://www.westmidlands-pcc.gov.uk/transparency/budgetary-and-financial-information/statements-of-accounts

Note: Some specific grants have been rolled into core Government funding over this period, including in 2012/13, the Neighbourhood Policing Fund and in 2014/15, the Community Safety Fund. This affects comparison between the figures over the period. Additionally, core funding previously paid by DCLG became part of Home Office core funding in 2013/14. These figures are included in all years to aid comparison.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of changes to the cap on religious selection on the opening of new Catholic state schools.

Caroline Dinenage

Some faith groups, including the Catholic Church, have felt unable to open new schools through the free schools route because they believe it contravenes religious rules. This has meant, for example, that in areas where there has been significant growth in the Catholic population, the Catholic Church has not set up sufficient school places to meet demand.

We want more high quality providers to be able to set up new schools and we are consulting on how best to do that. The consultation document, ‘Schools that work for everyone’ is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/schools-that-work-for-everyone

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to end reassessments for personal independence payments claimants with lifelong or degenerative conditions in line with his Department’s policy on employment and support allowance.

Penny Mordaunt

The length of a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from 9 months to an on-going award with a light touch review at the ten year point. PIP already recognises that for the most severely disabled claimants, the award review process could seem unnecessarily intrusive. Existing PIP claimants with the most severe, lifetime disabilities, whose functional ability has remained the same, are more likely to have their evidence reviewed by a DWP Decision Maker and will not need to have another face-to-face assessment with a healthcare professional.